Its "Total Minutes" and "Total Session" metrics now allow Nielsen//NetRatings to measure the total engagement of a website viewer, NetRatings Public Relations Manager Suzy Bausch told XBIZ.
Its previous metric merely tracked page views, she said. Internet technologies such as automatic page refreshing tool AJAX and sites offering streaming video — which include the vast majority of adult websites — no longer requires users to click to new web pages, so NetRatings realized it needed to expand its measuring methods to accommodate.
"It has shifted to add the total minutes so [clients] can look at the total volume or engagement across the site," Bausch said.
NetView Director of Product Marketing Scott Ross said that this is a step NetRatings is taking in the initial stage of Web 2.0 development.
"It ensures fair measurement of websites using RIA and streaming media," Ross said, "but also of web environments that have never been well-served by the page view, such as online gaming and Internet applications."
Bausch also said that adult websites are not excluded in its service data. The only requirements for a website to be counted is that it must have at least approximately 360,000 unique visitors, which is not a far reach for adult sites such as FreeOnes.com and BangBros.com.
"If there is a lot of video content on a site," Bausch said, "then it makes the 'Total Minutes' metric even more relevant."
She also said Nielsen//NetRatings clients have access to its data now.
For more information, visit Nielsen-NetRatings.com.